king of the hill

The last week has been filled with important cultural and religious holidays. Passover. Easter. April Fool's Day. But while we're all about observing holidays with the family and taking a moment out of our busy schedules to remember what's important in life, we're worried that this convergence of celebrations may have obscured one of the most important holidays of all: New TV DVD Release Tuesday.

Luckily, if you were too busy punking your Rabbi to get to the local mall, all is not lost, because we've been working around the clock to make sure that everyone gets a chance to buy the best of this week's new DVD releases. And at the top of our special post-Holiday list? Why, it's 'King of the Hill,' of course.

All of the speculation involving the death of actress Brittany Murphy can stop now. The coroner says that she died from pneumonia and anemia. The drugs that were in her system were all prescription drugs, including cramp medication, and over the counter (cough syrup). The medication she took didn't help things at all (she wouldn't have been as bad off if she hadn't take the medication while being sick) but the actual cause of death was the pneumonia and anemia.

Of course, this doesn't mean that she couldn't have been saved. TMZ is reporting that authorities at the coroner's office say that Murphy's death was "preventable" if only she had been taken to the hospital sooner. This is probably the part of the coroner's report that family and friends don't want to hear about.

According to the IMDb, Murphy had worked on two movies before she died, 'Abandoned' and 'Something Wicked.'

I don't think anyone cried over the cancellation of According to Jim, which managed to stay on the air seemingly due to some kind of deal with the devil, for eight cruel seasons. But 2009 also saw the end of some of our favorite shows here at TV Squad.

Some of these series finales left us in tears, some of them sparked debate, and a few even left us wondering, "what did I just watch?"

After the jump you'll find a list of six notable series finales for 2009. Feel free to share your thoughts about the finales in the comments, and don't forget to tell us about your favorites that didn't make the list. (And needless to say, there be spoilers below!)

It wasn't her bare midriff, pouffy blonde bangs or dubious hairdressing talent that made Luanne Platter the lovable character she was for over a decade on 'King of the Hill.' It was that voice: part baby talk, part soft, somewhat Southwestern drawl, part simpleton and all Brittany Murphy.

In light of Murphy's sudden passing, let's take a moment to reflect on Luanne's place in the pantheon of animated characters.

You may have heard that Brittany Murphy died suddenly today at the young age of 32. Some of you may not know how connected she was to TV, considering most of her best-known work was on the big screen. She had a few roles in some short-lived TV series, but she's probably best known to TV fans for her work as Luanne on King of the Hill.

The role always seemed to be a perfect fit for her and it seems in the wake of her tragic passing that to her, the role was more than just a job.

She once told USA Today that the character was a mix of "Juliette Lewis in Kalifornia and Jessica Lange in Blue Skies." She also said that despite Luanne's ditziness and naive ways, she served as a great source of inspiration for her.

The show centers around Bob, a struggling burger joint owner, his "tightly wound wife" and their three reckless kids. Bouchard told the Reporter that the original idea was to write a show about a family of cannibals, but the latter aspect was ultimately dropped -- probably for the best, considering the family runs a burger joint.

Thanksgiving is the best time to reflect on the year and find out what one is grateful for. Like most people, I'm grateful for my family and our well-being, but I realize that it's the little things that can perk up a depressing day.

Hulu
I cover a lot of reality shows and I found Hulu to be a great website for me to catch Glee, Modern Family, and Community without having to fill up my DVR. When Hulu gives me the option to play one long form commercial, I squeal, press play, and run to the bathroom to pee. When I get back Glee's preview is on. That show is better without either commercial or bathroom interruptions.

For some reason I thought that Henry Gibson was a lot older than 73, but the character actor with the huge resume passed away from cancer at that age yesterday in Malibu.

One of the more famous TV credits on that resume was Rowan and Martin'sLaugh-In, the influential 60s comedy show that no one under 30 has ever seen. He also appeared in shows like Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Deep Space Nine, Coach, MacGyver, Evening Shade, Sisters, Newhart, Magnum, P.I., and Simon and Simon.

More recently, TV fans know him from his many appearances as a judge on Boston Legal and his voice work on King of the Hill (he played Bob Jenkins). He was also in several movies, including Magnolia (he played Thurston Howell???), The Nutty Professor, Nashville, The Blues Brothers, Wedding Crashers, and a ton of others.

The one-hour, two-episode King of the Hill finale should stand not just as the end of a great show that never got the attention it deserved, but as a finale that tried not to seek that attention.

The show came to a rather quiet end last Sunday during Fox's "Animation Domination" block that has done just that, thanks in part to brilliant shows like King of the Hill. It featured two episodes that treated their audience to some of the characters' humorous and heartfelt changes before sending it off into the depths of the TV land vaults.

Then it slapped them back into cold, harsh reality by following it up with an all new episode of nature's cruel mistake Family Guy, but that's hardly Mike Judge's fault.

Believe it or not, FOX execs Kevin Reilly and Peter Rice did field questions that didn't have the words "Idol" our "Paula" in them. But there weren't many. Here are the highlights:

When Reilly was asked about the "Save Dollhouse" campaigns out there, he joked, "you mean the campaign that started before we starting making episodes?" He cited the solid cumulative numbers the show put up (which included DVR numbers) as to why it was brought back, and the fact that "the fans were there every week. We were there with Joss, and he delivered." While Whedon "wasn't having a lot of fun" in the first half of the season because of the struggles he and the network had to focus on what the vision of the show would be, in the "second half of year he found his voice on the show and had a lot of fun," according to Reilly.

On Futurama and the option the show has to do a first run on the network level: The show will "do its run on Comedy Central first and we'll see what happens. If we see a renaissance of that show, sure. It's not out of the question." But right now, there are no talks to air it on Fox.

Mike Judge doesn't strike anyone as the kind of guy who's created a legendary animated duo and a cult hit movie. And, you certainly wouldn't size him up as a creative mind with two active series on first-run network TV.

The native-Texan is just too unassuming, soft-spoken and self-deprecating to show up at Comic-Con International last week to discuss TV's The Goode Family and King of the Hill alongside his new feature film, Extract.

But there he was in Press Room 28e, preparing for his panel and eyeing the Mythbusters Comic-Con bag I'd just picked up on the convention floor.

"I've got to get me one of those bags before I go out there," Judge said.

On behalf of a grateful TV Squad nation, I offered him mine. He accepted the bag graciously. Then we begin the interview.

The cause of death hasn't been confirmed yet. First reports said that there was no cause of death, then his manager said it was natural causes, and now some news outlets are saying he committed suicide by hanging. I'm sure we'll find out more news later today.

Besides his run on Kung Fu, Carradine made a ton of movies, including the Kill Bill films, Crank: High Voltage, Death Race 2000, Mean Streets, Bound For Glory, The Long Riders, Grey Lady Down and many others. He was also in many TV shows over the years, including Alias, Night Gallery, Ironside, Gunsmoke, Medium, and King of the Hill. He also has a role as Gideon in FOX's summer series Mental.

Just one look at Mike Judge's The Goode Family feels like Hank Hill and his clan are staring into a periscope that's peering into the Bizarro World. The only thing missing on the Goodes are goatees, including the dog.

It's just too parallel not to notice, and it's an unfair assumption to make. Even though they are from the pen of the same creators, they seem like two completely different shows on the surface. But the similarities end after the premiere episode.

The biggest difference is the first episode of King of the Hill was a gaff-guzzling vehicle for FOX, and The Goode Family's pilot felt more like a smart but bold-lacking hybrid for ABC.